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Showing posts from April, 2013

Getting a PhD: Research writing

If you were to choose the most important section of a Research Paper, what would it be Answers differ, but many tend to say the Results section, as this determines the content of a Paper. Others argue that the Introduction section is the most important since this is where the Paper's aims, objectives and research questions are stated and hence this determines the Paper's content. At any rate, Manchester University’s Phrase Bank offers useful information on each of these sections here .  A few key points I got from a science magazine editor: As obvious as this may sound, it's still worth mentioning: writing is aimed at pleasing the reader, so be as understandable as possible. As The Economist ’s Style Guide says, clear writing reflects clear thinking.  While writers tend to prefer impressive-sounding Latin-based words, readers tend to prefer simpler Anglo-Saxon based words. Eg. ‘commence’ vs ‘begin’, ‘terminate’ vs ‘end’, ‘anticipate’ vs ‘expect’. It is specula

Getting a PhD: Reviewing your progress

T oday marks my 6th month as a PhD student yay (one-sixth of the journey). I absolutely want to complete my PhD in the allotted time and my Uni would like this to happen as well because good student completion rates are in the best interest of the university.  Since I’m required to hand in a 6-month progress report to my Faculty I thought I’d do a quick personal progress review as well. I’ve assessed myself based on Vitae’s intimidating impressive Researcher Development Framework as well as the top tips I received when I first started: Knowledge and intellectual abilities: This is sub-divided into knowledge base, intellectual skill and resourcefulness. Research questions: Developing clear research questions has helped me identify where my research is going plus methodologies to consider. Research mind: I'm currently working on developing my "academic voice" as well as the ever-important critical thinking skill. Research tools:  I've learnt MS